Four Times Reyna Looked Out For Rome
by JesusMaryJosephine
Summary: And One Time Rome Looked Out For Her. Slight Jeyna.
1. Exhibit Number One

**Exhibit Number One**

 _ **The time Reyna freaked everyone out by showcasing**_ **just how much** _ **she knew her camp, and it's campers.**_

It was lunch time, which meant the mess hall was loud and noisy, with legionnaires who were still teenagers so _could you really blame them?_

Reyna was sitting with the Fifth Cohort because, even if she was praetor, she wasn't snobby and besides _Jason was there_ so were you really going to judge her?

Gwen said something about Dakota, and everyone laughed, while everyone _but_ Gwen and Dakota shot each other looks like, "They are _so_ in love." The aforementioned look lasted a bit too long between Jason and Reyna and the remaining legionnaires gave each other a "How in Bellona's name can two people be so oblivious?!" look. Gwen and Dakota took part in this look, noticing the gaze between the two praetors, and everyone else-

Suffice to say, there were a lot of looks.

Conversation -verbal and mental- ended when four campers, Michael Kahale from the First Cohort, Julia Gomez from the Second, and Georgiana and Lucas Forester from the Third arrived.

Michael was about to open his mouth when Reyna -without even _looking_ at him- cut him off with a curt: "The Senate meeting will be from three to five."

He started, then nodded, then opened his mouth again. Reyna, somehow sensing this, said-

"First can take archery first session tomorrow."

Michael nodded, turned away, then turned back, a look on his face like, "Wait that just happened?"

Reyna rolled her eyes -which were, by the way, fixed on Jason- like, "Can you believe this guy?"

Believe _Michael?_ Jason couldn't believe _Reyna_.

"Julia, tell whoever's causing trouble to come to the Principia at one thirty. Lucas, I do not _care_ what your sister has done to annoy you this time. Georgiana, I don't care what he did in retaliation. You both most likely deserved it." She sighed, and turned back down to her plate. After a while, she looked back up, and finally turned around.

"Why are you still here?"

Michael, Julia, Georgiana, Lucas, and just about everyone at the Fifth Cohort table were still staring at her when Reyna turned back to her plate.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," she snarked, dryly, finally looking up at everyone.

"How… How do you do that?" Jason asked, his eyes wide.

Reyna only shrugged, her eyes betraying nothing. "I know my people, Grace."

* * *

 _ **She did indeed. (Too bad they didn't know her.)**_


	2. Exhibit Number Two

**Exhibit Number Two**

 _ **The time Reyna remembered a heartbreak moment forgotten by someone, and TOTALLY avenged the heartbreak victims.**_

Ally was _so_ done with Valentine's Day. So was Gwen.

Both were daughter of Venus. Both had had their hearts broken by Jacob Michaelson. Both hated his guts. And both had their eyes fixated on the sun of Mars who had broken their heart and was now headed towards someone else.

Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano.

 _Oh, Pluto no. Not my best friend._ Gwen thought grimly, as she started getting up, with the intention of dragging Reyna away from the traitorous son of Mars.

She sat back down numbly when Reyna accepted the hand accepted towards her, and headed for the dance floor with Jacob. Her eyes were bitter with betrayal, as she watched her now ex-best friend laugh and dance with Jacob. He twirled her around, and they waltzed around the room, people staring at them, or, more specifically, Reyna, who looked _stunning_.

Ally stared at the praetor with eyes filled with hate. How could the daughter of Bellona dance with someone who had crushed her heart until it lay there in pieces, and set fire to the remains? Did she have no soul? Did she even _know?_

Then, Reyna announced loudly, "Jacob, please stop stepping on my toes."

A slow grin spread across Gwen's face. Oh, _Pluto yes._

Ally looked up, eyebrows raised.

The son of Mars flushed red, and stuttered an apology. Reyna smiled mischievously, and nodded in forgiveness.

Once again, they were spinning around the room, when the song changed, and Jacob's arm twitched lower on Reyna's waist. Ally and Gwen waited with baited breath to see if Reyna would notice and call him out on it. She didn't disappoint.

"Too low, Michaelson, that is _way_ too low. Didn't your mother teach you how to dance with a lady?"

Jacob's face resembled a tomato at this point, and he looked like he was regretting asking her to dance. Jason Grace was glaring at him from where he was dancing with Piper McLean, which probably wasn't helping Jacob's case.

Gwen was grinning now, and Ally's eyes were shining.

The final blow came at the end of the song.

Jacob dipped Reyna, Jason's fists clenched, Gwen and Ally waited in anticipation, and Reyna _judo-flipped_ the son of Mars over her shoulder.

He landed on the floor with a thud, and the music stopped.

Reyna leaned in real close.

"Do you really think," she started, "That I would have forgotten. Do you think that I wouldn't have _cared_ when my best friend came to me, tears running down her face, tears that were caused by _you?_ Do you think I didn't notice when one of my strongest archers couldn't hit _any_ targets? Do you think I wouldn't have seen her crying silently because _you_ couldn't stand to be loyal? Do you _honestly think_ ," she grabbed him by his collar, her breath hot on his face and hellfire burning in her eyes, "That I _wouldn't_ avenge them?" She stood up, her eyes flashing.

"Well I did. Unlike you, I do _not_ forget."

* * *

 _ **She never did forget. Too bad others did.**_


	3. Exhibit Number Three

**Exhibit Number Three**

 _ **The many, many, many times Reyna pulled all-nighters doing paperwork so that everyone else could sleep peacefully.**_

The clock on the wall said it was five o'clock. Not in the evening. In the _morning_. A few months ago, Reyna would have wondered how the time flew. Now, she did nothing but reach for her mug of coffee.

It was empty.

She put it down, too tired to slam it on the table, as much as she wanted to.

Reyna reached for the pen, ready to sign a few more lines, and veto all Octavian's leftover weasel's complaints, when someone walked in.

"Reyna?"

She looked up, her neck cracking. Black hair and sleepy brown eyes greeted her.

Her co-worker. Frank Zhang.

Reyna didn't know why she was disappointed. So maybe she had been expecting blonde hair and blue eyes. _Get a grip_ she told herself. _He's GONE_.

"Reyna, it's _five thirty_ in the morning," Frank said, groggily.

Calmly, Reyna wrote _Set clock forward 3o minutes_ on a red post-it and stuck it on the wall in front of her desk.

"Anything else, Zhang?"

"Why are you up?"

"Why are _you_ up?" She shot back. He huffed.

"Gwen mentioned that you looked really stressed, so I decided to wake up early and do some of the work." He paused, squinting at her. "But you just _had_ to wake up before me."

Reyna didn't say anything, choosing instead to scrawl her signature on one of the forms (something about the coffee and teddy bears). Frank grabbed the paper and read over it quickly, before waving it wildly in the air.

"Reyna, do you know what you just signed?" She looked up, raising an eyebrow.

"This is a request from one of Octavian's leftover followers, Duncan Flat from First, I think, who wants to change that coffee place in New Rome into a memorial featuring all of Octavian's gutted animals!"

Reyna's eyes widened. "Shit."

She ripped the paper out of his hand and scribbled over her signature, marking the paper with a big red X and then placing it into the Vetoed pile.

"Wow, you're really out of it, aren't you?" Frank stated. The daughter of Bellona didn't look up, just crossed out another paper and placed it in the Vetoed pile.

"Reyna. Look at me." There was something different in Frank's voice, and it made Reyna look up, questioningly.

"What time did you wake up?" He probed gently.

"Five," Reyna replied curtly.

"So, half an hour ago?" He checked. She looked away.

"Well…" Understanding dawned on Frank.

"Reyna… _You've been awake for twenty-four hours!"_

"Technically, twenty-four hours and thirty minutes, but yes."

"That's even worse! Gwen said it was bad, but I didn't know it was _this_ bad!" The son of Mars cried, gesturing wildly until he looked like Nico when the son of Hades was ranting.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?!" Reyna snapped. "Sit down and do nothing even though Octavian's weasels are still trying to dethrone me? Let the piles of paperwork pile up and have you read through them while your friends Iris Message _me_ and tell me that _I'm_ working you too hard?!"

Frank blinked. He had thought that his friends would have been more civil. Annabeth and Piper might have felt slightly threatened, but Hazel and Jason had no need or position to berate to the Praetor.

"In case you've forgotten, there was a war. I left _my people_ because of the word of a _graecus_ and now it's coming back to bite me in the _podex_. I have to earn their trust back, Frank and trust it not going to come to me if I just let a newbie do all the work. _Furthermore_ , I've done all this before. You haven't. The war, the paperwork, the constant nagging," she shuddered, "be glad Octavian's not included in it too."

Reyna finally calmed down, and all Frank could do was look at her in awe.

"How…?" Was all he could get out. Reyna managed a small, tired smile.

"I'm a Praetor, Frank. I protect my people. It's what I do."

* * *

 _ **She did protect them. Too bad they couldn't return the favour.**_

* * *

 **Sorry for the super long wait! I've been in a funk of sorts, but I'm getting back on track. It's short, but oh well.**


End file.
